About NWMUN - Portland

NWMUN-Portland, founded in 2014, aims
to provide an innovative, educational and enjoyable simulation of the
United Nations in Portland each February.

NWMUN-Portland is one of our two annual conferences; our flagship conference, NWMUN - Seattle, is held each November. Participation in NWMUN conferences helps develop public speaking,
writing,
research and negotiation skills.

Keynote Speaker

Professor, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs; Press Secretary and Senior Adviser, New York City Department of Veterans' Services

Former Director of Media Analysis & Strategy, Permanent Mission of the United States to the United Nations

Alexis Wichowski is an adjunct associate professor in Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, teaching in the Technology, Media, and Communications (TMaC) specialization. She is also Press Secretary and Senior Advisor at New York City’s newly created Department of Veterans’ Services, providing support to the City’s half million veterans and their families. She has previously served New York City as a Disaster Relief Field Responder, before and during 9/11.

Previous government work includes Program Officer for the US Department of State’s Office of eDiplomacy, Diplomatic Innovation Division under then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and, most recently, Director of Media Analysis & Strategy at the Permanent Mission of the United States to the United Nations. She has been awarded a Presidential Management Fellowship, two Meritorious Honor Awards, and a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship. Outside government, Wichowski has worked in media impact research, information architecture development, academic book indexing, web coding, theater production, foreign sitcoms, and pretzel vending.

Wichowski holds a PhD in Information Science from the University at Albany's College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and a BA in Chinese from Connecticut College, completed in three years cum laude. She lives in Brooklyn with her family, swims / bikes / runs, and reads science fiction voraciously.